Steve Bruno

A slew of signed and proposed fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s planned July 5th UFC 86 event in Las Vegas have come to light this week.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will defend his UFC light heavyweight title against top contender Forrest Griffin at the event. The two fighters will serve as coaches for the upcoming seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter”.

American Top Team has confirmed via it’s official website that four of their fighters will be competing at UFC 86: Gleison Tibau, Cole Miller, Steve Bruno, and Ben Saunders. The only fighter with a potential opponent as of right now is Tibau. MMA Mania reports that a bout between him and former title contender Joe Stevenson will likely take place at the show.

A lightweight affair between Corey Hill and Justin Buccholz also seems to be in the works. Patrick Cote will return to action at the event as well against Ricardo Almeida according to The Fight Network.

According to Cote, he wants a fight that will potentially put him in title contention in the near future. A showdown with Almeida just might do that.

“We wanted a big fight,” Cote said in the report. “I have four wins in a row, three in the UFC, and I think I’m ready for a real tough opponent. I want to fight a guy who, if I win, the UFC will put me in a title fight or one more fight before I get my shot.”

- The CSAC has announced that the following fighters have tested negative for performance enhancing drugs following post-fight testing for UFC 76: Thiago Tavares, Tyson Griffin, Ryoto Machida, Anthony Johnson, and Rich Clementi. The only test results from the event that haven’t been released yet are of Chuck Liddell, Mauricio Rua, Forrest Griffin, and Keith Jardine. The results for those fighters are expected to be released later in the week.

“I kind of snickered about it,” Thomson said, “but I also have had some big money sponsors coming up to me and asking me whether it was true or not. That potentially could cost me money, and that, to me, is basically what I’m getting at.”

I know that Thomson has some crazy hair and his appearance on “Blind Date” didn’t really go that well but I don’t believe Thomson is gay.

Thomson and Shamrock have had a feud going for well over a year now. Thomson attributes the tension due to the fact that Shamrock was angry that fighters from the American Kickboxing Academy decided against joining a new gym that Shamrock was opening. Shamrock has claimed in the past that Thomson has been bad mouthing him for years.

- Tonight’s episode of UFC Unleashed will feature Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs Jason Lambert from UFC 68 and Houston Alexander vs Keith Jardine from UFC 71. I’m not sure what the third fight on the broadcast will be. Don’t forget that The Ultimate Fighter is on right after that.

“I would like to be fighting in Pancrase. I would love to continue fighting there and hopefully I will get a chance to defend my belt this year. I have had some trouble with getting promoters to honor what they agreed to and cooperate with Pancrase to get a match set-up. So now that I am a free agent I would like to do it.”

Barnett has always noted in the past that he would like the chance to defend his belt in Pancrase as a stipulation in any contract he signs with an organization. However since talks haven’t gone anywhere with anyone, it seems that Barnett may do that before signing anywhere.

Touch of gloves to Five Ounces of Pain for the find.

- Ricco Rodriguez is going to headline Battle Cage Xtreme III in New Jersey on October 20th. He will take on Kauai Kupihiea for the USKBA Heavyweight Title.

The Fight Network is reporting that Anthony Johnson (3-0) will replace Steve Bruno at UFC Fight Night 10 when he faces Chad Reiner (13-2) in a welterweight showdown.

Anthony Johnson is replacing Steve Bruno who was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a torn rotator cuff. Anthony Johnson is a veteran of Pangea Fights and Rocky Mountain Nationals-MMA promotion with a record of 3-0 and victories over Keith Wilson, Rich Moskowitch, and Jonathan Romero.